Following a week of home hosting and shared activities, what better way to commemorate the new found camaraderie (friendship and trust within a group) - than to plant a tree....... !

Each time members of the Friendship Force of the Gold Coast club host an exchange from somewhere around the world, a native Australian tree is planted in the lush grounds of the Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens. A certificate acknowledging the visitors' participation in this activity is presented to the Exchange Director as a reminder of their involvement during their stay on the Gold Coast.

The Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens, formerly known as the Rosser Park Regional Botanic Gardens, and before that simply Rosser Park, are located on Ashmore Road, Benowa, Gold Coast, Australia.

The Friendship Force of the Gold Coast as an entity, is a member of the ‘Friends of the Gold Coast Botanic Gardens’ and our club members feel privileged to be amongst those with an ‘officially nominated’ area of the beautiful parkland.

In 2003 following many months of discussions between Gold Coast City Council and club member Kevin Seivers, the first tree was planted in Rosser Park in an area that was to become known as “Friendship Force Avenue”.

In departure from the usual practice of hosting Friendship Force clubs from around the world, in 2003 Friendship Force of the Gold Coast, in a joint venture with the Gold Coast City Council and the authorities of the Gold Coast's Sister City of Nouméa in New Caledonia, hosted a group of New Caledonians for what was a wonderful week of fun and friendship. This visit culminated in the establishing of a Nouméa club when the ‘ambassadors’ returned to their own country.

It was during this exchange that the inaugural tree planting took place when Frédéric from Sister City of Nouméa, ably assisted by Kevin from Friendhip Force Gold Coast, planted a Queensland Kauri Pine.

The Friendship Force of Nouméa, New Caledonia continues to enjoy belonging to Friendship Force International and hopefully members will always remember their club had its origins due to a visit to us here on the Gold Coast.

Map showing Friendship Force Avenue and 2nd area for plantings


Friendship Force Avenue signage


Showing some of the established trees

The original area pictured above now has the allotted number of trees and a new area has been designated for further plantings. A number of trees have already been planted in the new zone with many more to come.

Shown below are the names of visiting clubs and the trees planted during their respective visits.